


A Week's Worth of Science Bros (2017)

by SioDymph



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Violence, wordcount varries each chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-11-30 16:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11467182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph
Summary: Here's all my prompts from this year's Science Bro's week!





	1. Light

**Author's Note:**

> Finally! I’ve been looking forward to this week ever since the one last year lol! And here’s my take on the first prompt “light”, where Bruce thinks back on his first week in Stark Towers after the whole New York fiasco. 
> 
> Also I'll be taking requests for this week, so if you have any ideas don't be shy! (I think my cut off date will be the 21st)

Bruce still remembered the first week he’d stayed in Stark Towers. It certainly had been a jarring change for him. In the span of one week he’d jumped from a sleeping bag in India to the clinical, almost cell-like workspace with SHIELD. And then just as quickly he was moving into one of the most coveted places in New York where he had an entire floor and laboratory all to himself.

Back on the helicarrier, when Tony had been pitching the idea to him he’d called it candyland. And now that he’d stupidly agreed to move to the city he found the nickname very fitting. His workspace was better stocked than anything he’d ever had before, even when he was with the university. And if he did ever need anything else for research or experiments, it could be shipped in within hours. Not to mention his apartment space either, which had been partially tailor-made to his own requests. All calm down-to-earth colors that seemed out of place in the rest of the chrome, futuristic tower. He could have anything he asked for at just the drop of a hat.

Yet even having so much independence, privacy and power he felt extremely out of place.

For years he’d been avoiding major cities and crowded areas. A way to try and ensure he didn’t hurt so many people. So being at the center of one of the most stressful places in the country had him worried. But Tony always seemed to insist that everything would be fine. Even with his near-constant assuring Bruce couldn’t help but worry, he’d done so much off-hand damage to the city during the fight, and that was when he was mad at hordes of face-less aliens. Imagine what he might do if he directly sent that unbridled rage towards humans, the people who actually lived there?

Another factor came from his room. Even while he had the walls and floor reinforced doubly, just in case anything happened, he felt so conscious of the fact now. That below soft carpets and wood floors were nets of high-grade steel-titanium-adamantium alloy. Sure the big guy would still be able to break through if he really dedicated himself, but it still didn’t help the fact that he could feel so caged. His own confinement always came as a mixed-feeling for Bruce. On one hand he knew it might be safer for humanity if he were contained, but on the other hand he knew deep in his heart that there was next to nothing in the world that could keep the Incredible Hulk down and any attempt to hold him back would be fruitless. Even with that said the thought still sent chills down his spine. Being locked in a box, buried underground and never seen again. Or worse yet, being on display... He doubted Tony would ever do something like that, but that inkling of paranoia seemed to always follow him. From the reinforced walls to the bed that felt a bit too soft. He wondered if that feeling would ever go away completely.

And then there was Mr. Tony Stark himself. Even before the accident Bruce hadn’t been the most social person. And after the development of his giant green ultra-ego he’d gone into a self-imposed isolation, moving from place to place to stay ahead of the army, never getting close to anyone. And now here he was living with relatively close quarters with the one of the biggest names in technology, weaponry. Suffice to say he was nothing like the handful of friends he had in college who were quiet and reserved much like himself. Tony was loud, demanding attention even when he was working alone.

When he’d first met Tony he’d been a curve ball in every meaning of the word. Throwing him off. Catching his guard down. When he’d first met with SHIELD he was surprised when the man directly approached him without any sign of reservation and began excitedly talking with him about the physicality of the tesseract. He had an ease when around Bruce that he’d never seen anyone who knew of his true powers have. And he’d been right when they’d first met. It was nice to finally meet someone who spoke “English”. He didn’t even realize how much he’d missed talking facts and figures until he was talking with Tony. Bruce thought that would be the end of that casual, friendly attitude towards him but as they began to work closely together he only seemed to warm up to him even more. Even while trying to help save the planet from the god of Chaos as well as crack the mystery that was SHIELD’s own suspicious activity, Tony found time to crack jokes, make small talk. And yet even for how much the man seemed to purposely avoid doing any real work, the results he got from just a few hours on the helicarrier were impressive to Bruce to say the least.

Somehow in the end, all that charisma and friendliness must of won him over because here he was living and working alongside Tony Stark, billionaire and engineer extraordinaire, in a city he’d once vowed to never step foot in. And all those feelings and uncertainties seemed to all come to a head and make his first week living in New York his own personal hell. He barely got any sleep. The closest he got to relaxed was in attempted meditation, but even then his concentration was weak and never felt anything deeper in his mind than his concentrated breathing and forced motions.

One night he couldn’t stand staying in his bedroom, the feeling of being caged felt so strong it was enough to drive him out of the room, out of his own apartment, and he headed up to the shared living space Tony had made for the whole Avengers team to enjoy. No one else had completely taken Tony up on his offer besides Bruce so he expected it to be empty. Even if he was still alone he hoped at least being in a different space might help dislodge the panicked train of thought that kept going through his head whenever he tried to go to sleep in that room.

But as he stepped out of the elevator and onto the floor, he was surprised to see light shining out from the community kitchen.

There, making a microwaved burrito and a pot of coffee in near-complete darkness was Tony.

The only sources of light were the pale yellow from the microwave and the stronger blue light hat constantly radiated from Tony’s chest. He turned over when Bruce walked in, he looked dead on his feet. The weak lighting only accented the bags under his eyes, making his whole face seem worn.

“Hey you.” It was probably the quietest Bruce had ever heard Tony.

“Hi? I didn’t think you would still be up.” Bruce said, unsure if he should be here or if he should just go back to his room and suffer through the rest of the night on his own.

But Tony didn’t seem to mind, he just shrugged and slowly looked back at his burrito. “Eh, probably. I’ve been doing some suit upgrades.”

“At two in the morning?” Last time Bruce had checked a clock it was a little past two, and that was back in his bedroom.

“Time’s an illusion.” Tony replied, completely unfazed.

Bruce couldn’t help but snort at that. “Ok, then I guess it’s pointless to ask when you started if time isn’t real. What upgrades are these exactly?”

Just like that, it was like they were back in the laboratories on the helicarrier. Despite looking like he was going to pass out Tony began going through the improvements on his latest suit in between bites of his burrito. Eventually Tony invited Bruce to his workshop to keep talking over his fresh pot of coffee.

Even now after everything Bruce still remembered that night fondly. It was one of the first nights where Bruce felt… Where he could pretend, even if only for a few minutes, that his accident never happened. That he was just a physicist and biologist, not a ticking time bomb one stressor away from destroying everything he touched. Tony treated him like the equal he was, respected his intellect and ideas, even enjoyed working with him. And he didn’t see as anything less. Anything to be feared.

They’d spent that entire night testing out Tony’s suit and talking about nearly everything from the laws of physics, to mundane gossip among their new team. And all the while the arc reactor glowed softly from under Tony’s shirt.

Sometimes Bruce found he missed the reactor, even if it was a necessity for Tony’s health. The way it shined out in a dark room. How it had glowed in kitchen that night, and for many nights afterwards. Or how nights even further after that it could just illuminate their bedroom when completely unblocked.

There was also a much less literal light about Tony Bruce had learned way back then too. The way his eyes would spark from a new idea, or how his face would light up when he got excited. And Tony’s old arc was nothing compared to the light he’d brought into his life.

He’d tried saying something that sappy to Tony once, but neither of them had been able to keep a straight face and burst out laughing.


	2. Pending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok and here’s my take on the prompt “Pending”! I decided to include Tony going out to lunch with Peter and his family cause why the heck not? (Fair warning though, I haven’t been able to go see the movie yet, I’ve only seen all the interviews the cast have done and what non-spoiler info my sister has told me. So if I get any big characterizations wrong, my bad lol. And just to be careful, I’d give this a spoiler warning for the Spiderman Homecoming.)
> 
> And if you have any Science Bro suggestions or requests, send them my way and I’ll publish them alongside the rest of the prompts for this week! M cut off for requests will be next week on the 21st though, so keep that in mind!

Tony isn’t sure exactly when it happened, but he stopped constantly checking all his phones.

Only his work phone had any traffic. But then again it was a work phone and he was one of the heads of a major international industry. And he usually ignored his work so that phone didn’t really count. It was his three other phones that bothered him. His personal phone, his burner phone, and his ghost phone.

It had been silent on his front for a while now, longer than Tony liked to think about. But he use to still check his personal one, hoping that maybe he didn’t feel it vibrate in his pocket where it stayed nearly 24 hours a day, or that Friday got side-tracked with some scans and forgot to tell him. But somewhere in between all of the accords and its aftermath he must have stopped. He could still try and justify it though. Almost no one ever knew his personal phone, and most people who did he usually saw in person like Pepper and Rhodey and now Peter. He could justify the personal phone being so useless now, even if it still bothered him.

And he could honestly do the same for his burner phone too. The one Cap mailed him had been silent for months now too. Granted he’d expected that from him and his merry men. They’d said Tony should call _them_ if he needed _them,_ Steven never said anything about it being the other way around. He got that. Still though, even after everything that had gone down, sometimes he wished Steve or Nat would call. Just to check up on everything. Even if they just argued the whole time.

But that never happened. That phone stayed silent. Locked in his desk he rarely used, in an office he barely visited. And the same went for his last phone. One that was next to untraceable, kept locked in his bedroom with a stack of written letters and photos, and only had one number.

It had only been his only way of reaching Bruce, and now for several months it’s now become completely useless. The last message was a text from Bruce,

_Bye Tony. I’ll contact you when I get back from Asgard_

He had sent him that mere moments before he left this world entirely. And he was still waiting for that follow up. God, it’s been months since he looked at this phone last. And he couldn’t help but be reminded of that fact as he held the phone now. He was surprised he hadn’t had to dust the thing it’d been so long.

There was still no response, and he realized he hadn’t expected to find any either.

He’d tried some out-of-the-box attempts at communicating with Bruce too, but nothing seemed to work. Gave him any sign.

He hadn’t given up. He was too stubborn to ever really try something like that. And he hadn’t accepted the circumstances. But when he checked those phones for what felt like the first time in ages to find it still message-less. He felt something different, something weaker than all the anger and self-imposed isolation he’d put on himself and the whole spiral afterwards. It felt like something different now.

Whatever it was he didn’t like it.

“Wherever you are, hope you’re doing alright big guy.” Tony muttered quietly, scrolling back through the handful of texts saved onto the phone.

Friday cut off his train of thought suddenly as she came on the speaker just over his head.

“Sir? Just a reminder you planned a lunch today in an hour with Ms. Potts, Mr. Parker and his family.”

He sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know. I’m on it… Thanks Friday.”

Before leaving his room he tucked the ghost pone in his pocket. He wasn’t even sure why he wanted to bring it with him. Maybe impulse? Sentiment even? He didn’t give himself time to think about it anymore. Shoving all the thoughts about phones and all the people who never seemed to use them into the back of his head.

~~~

It was nice to see Peter outside of suits and cover-ups, especially when the city wasn’t being torn apart. How the kid always managed to seem so chipper and positive, Tony had no clue. But he was happy to see that even after everything that he’d gotten swept up in, the kid seemed to be holding up well. Tony saw him waiting outside with his Aunt and one his friends along with Pepper.

Last one to show up to any social occasional, as usual, Tony pulled up to the café and handed off his car to the valet.

Pepper was the first to see him. Waving him over. “About time you showed up!”

“Always gotta show up fashionably late.” Tony said smirking back.

Peter approached him next, grinning, along with his Aunt May. When she found out her nephew’s secret things had been a bit tense between him and her, he did technically put her nephew in direct line of danger and kept a pretty big secret from her. But she’d been surprisingly forgiving, much more than most people were towards him. So now they were fine enough to go out for lunch together.

And then there was the last member of their little group, the only one he hadn’t met before and the only other person who knew Peter’s little secret, Ned Leeds. As he greeted him, Tony tried to keep that relaxed attitude.

“So you’re the guy behind the computer,” Tony said. “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you!”

Poor kid, Ned looked so out of sorts. He looked towards Tony somehow both terrified and beaming. “You know me?”

“Of course!” Tony replied easily as their small group stepped into the café. “You always gotta know the guys behind the computer, they’re the ones who make all this hero business possible. God knows where I’d be without Pepper here.” He gestured towards her. She shook her head in response, smirking. “So both you, and you know Pete’s lil secret here?”

“Yep! Caught him climbing on the ceiling.” Ned said. “Pretty awesome.”

“Honestly, how he thought he could keep anything from his own Aunt is beyond me.” Aunt May teased. Peter for his part could only look embarrassed when she went to scruff up his hair.

“Jeez, what ever happened to lying low, keeping a secret identity?” Tony said. And he snorted when he saw the look Pepper shot him.

“Oh my god! You did not just ask him that,” Pepper said, unable to believe what she just heard. “You. The guy who announced he was Iron Man on live TV to the entire world!”

“Oh come on! We both know I never could have sold that script SHIELD tried to give me.”

“Not to mention the time you willingly gave a terrorist your home address and dared him to come fight you.” Ned added quietly, unsure if what he said was aright but relaxing some when Pepper smiled towards him.

“Thank you! This kid gets it!”

Tony raised his hands in defense. “Hey! I never said do as I do! I think I actually told you to do the opposite!”

That made everyone laugh some as they sat down at their table.

~~~

The five of them had made their small talk, it had all felt so light, fun even. It almost reminded Tony of how things use to be years ago before he ever became Iron Man. And it had been nice talking tech and engineering with kids like Peter and Ned who just seemed so excited about everything, passionate about new ideas, ready to get creative. Both of them had a great future ahead of them, especially if they got out of the hero business while they still could in his opinion. Aunt May was always a delight to talk to.

And it was nice to finally be in a more civil space with Pepper. They had agreed they needed some space, but it was nice that after everything, the living hell that had been their year, they could still be friends. And that was something that had become rather spars for Tony.

But after today it reminded him he wasn’t completely on his own. It had been nice. Like really nice. Not just the fake polite that had become Tony’s version nice. It was kinda sad actually that this was such a surprise to him, that this afternoon he’d actually enjoyed himself.

If nothing else it had let him drop a little weight of his shoulders, something that had become rare for him. And as he began dressing down into something more comfortable he found himself smiling. Thinking about it all still brought a smile to his face so if that was anything to go by then today’s lunch had gone amazing. When his phone began buzzing he assumed it was Pepper wanting to say something about the lunch maybe.

Until he realized that he didn’t have his personal phone in his pocket. He had Bruce’s.

Almost numbly he pulled the phone out of his pocket. It only vibrated once so it wasn’t a call. And when he unlocked the screen he read the text. The first message from Bruce in forever. It was a giant wall of text all sent at once. He could hear his voice in his head as he read.

_Hi T-Bone. Sorry it’s been so long. Things haven’t gone according to plan. Asgard is gone, hopefully not forever. Got in a gladiator battle ring. Regrouped with Thor and we’re working out a plan. I’ll be out of reach again soon. I’ll have another chance to talk in roughly four earth months. I’ll have a stronger connection then, we’ll actually be able to talk. I’ll explain everything. Love you._

Slowly he set the phone back down, mind reeling. That text only gave him more questions than answers. But it was too late to try responding to him. Looks like he’d have to wait for four more months to find out what the hell had happened to Bruce.

At least he was doing ok. He was looking forwards to Bruce’s explanation for everything that happened to him and Thor. Maybe when he got a connection again he’d be able to call. He really missed his voice.


	3. Rush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is my prompt for today’s theme “Rush”! Hope you enjoy! And just a reminder, I’m happy to take any Science Bros requests till July 21st!

As much as Tony tried to quit the hero business sometimes, nothing beat the insane adrenaline rush he’d get whenever he put on the suit.

From the very first time he’d taken his own model out for a test flight. Zipping across the city, reaching up to the moon. He never felt so free, such a surge of speed and power. And that excitement from flying had never really gone away since.

Even now there was still that tiny little jump in his chest as the rockets in his hands and feet kicked in and he lifted off the ground. He was testing out some new models for his next suit. Something a bit more lightweight, made for flying faster and with more control over tiny movements for enclosed spaces.

Tony had gotten inspired when he’d been kidnapped by Killian and only bits and pieces of his suit had responded to him. But he was still able to make his escape with only one gauntlet and one boot for most of the fight. That had been a fun one. Most times he flew indoors there was the intent to destroy the buildings around him so he never worried much about crashing or breaking everything. But being able to flying through narrow halls without completely knocking out a wall might be helpful. Especially if the Avengers ever needed to do something more Nat’s speed like co-op missions or spy work.

He spun around in his workshop, wearing his latest design for the boots and gauntlets, trying to see if he could redo the stunts he pulled on Killian’s cronies. Switching the fire power on and off between opposite hands and feet.

When he spares a second to look down he catches Bruce laughing at him.

He cuts the rockets down to minimum power and lands in front of him. Bruce tries to quit laughing as Tony steps over to him. “Hey! What’s so funny, bub?”

“It’s nothing.” Bruce said, stilling smiling “It’s just I’ve never seen your face when you’re flying. Helmet and all. Do you always look like that?”

“Like what?”

“Happy! You were grinning ear to ear. It was adorable!”

That caught Tony off guard, it wasn’t like had ever installed a hand mirror inside the helmet so he wasn’t too sure either.

Bruce rubbed at his eyes, chuckling more. “God I can’t stop imagining it now! All of us going into battle, super serious, and you’re just flying in beaming like a kid in a candy store.”

“Hey! Flying’s fun! Sue me for smiling once in a while!” He snapped back, but there wasn’t any real anger in his voice. He fired up gauntlets and flew in a slow circle around Bruce.

“I think you just like showing off.” Bruce added. Turning in his computer chair, following him around.

“Oh definitely! How else am I supposed to keep all the attention on me?” Tony sped up a little more and raised off the ground. It forced Bruce to start looking up at him. And in a split second he got an idea, probably a terrible one.

“Hey, you wanna try this?”

Bruce was quick to shake his head, having to readjust his glasses as he did so. “Nope! Uh- I’d rather not.”

“Oh come on, Brucie-bear!” Tony said, twisting his feet so he spun some as he flew in slow circles. “It’s so much fun, you don’t know what you’re missing!”

“Rocket boosters and cherry-red armor’s your thing… Temper tantrums and crazy mutations are mine.” Bruce said.

“Aw, you sure?”

“Yes, I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground. Don’t want to risk anything with… stress levels anyway.” Bruce said, sticking to his guns.

Tony finally relented, breaking from his circles around Bruce to go flying towards the center of his workshop. “Alright. Your loss. Looks like you’ll miss out on doing cool stuff. Like this!”

He shot up and rapidly cut off all four rockets so he was free falling. Arching his back and diving down before repowering his boots, he looped back up. Effectively doing giant backflips midair.

“Show off! How long have you been practicing that one?” Bruce asked in a humored tone.

“Ever since mark 1.” Tony shouted back over his shoulder. It was getting harder to hear Bruce when he was further away, and when working at top speeds the rocket boosters were loud. He made a mental note to see if he could do something about engine volume later. After all what good would a co-op suit be if it was this loud?

Flipping around one last time, he prepared to finally land, choosing to hit the ground hard and land with on his knees and a fist punching the ground.

“Nice. Real dramatic.” Bruce clapped at little.

“Thank you!” Tony quipped back, and giving Bruce a quick bow. “Makes reinforcing the knees all worth it!”

Bruce laughed at that. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“Course I do!” Tony said as he started pulling off his gauntlets and boots. He’d come back and adjust them later, maybe even start the again from scrap.

“And you know, you were smiling again.”

“Wait I was?” Tony asked, bringing a hand up to his face unconsciously.

Well that was something. Tony hadn’t even noticed he’d been smiling the whole time. Now he really was curious what kinds of faces he made while flying, maybe this next suit could have a camera inside so he could see for himself.

Bruce hummed in response. Still sitting comfortable in his computer chair while Tony disassembled his suit pieces.

“Well what about you?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, where do you get your kicks then?”

Bruce thought for a moments, kicking his feet up and spinning in a circle as he thought. He shrugged. “Not too sure, nothing comes to mind.”

“Oh come on, there’s gotta be something! What’s gives you a rush? Get’s your heart pumping?” Tony asked, walking over to him and sitting on his workbench once his hands and feet were free.

“Well, I’m mean technically I try to avoid getting my heart-rate up. Cause, you know.” Bruce said.

Crap, he hadn’t thought of that. Tony was quick to try and make the subject more bearable. “Then what about before your accident? What would you do for fun?”

“I didn’t do much, even back then.” Bruce said honestly. “Between work and research there wasn’t much else I had time for. That I wanted to make time for really.”

“Yeesh! I didn’t know I was dating such a nerd!” Tony said teasingly.

“Yeah? Well I can’t believe I’m dating a dork who smiles whenever he flies.” Bruce teased back, laughing a little while Tony groaned.

“God! Next mission we go on that’s all I’ll be thinking of! I’m gonna have to put cameras in my helmet so I can see for sure.”

“If you record it send me a copy. It’ll cheer me up on a boring day.”


	4. Pierce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta say, of all the prompts this year I was the most excited for this one. I’d been thinking of an idea for this story and when I saw the word “pierce” I figured out how to try and put it together. 
> 
> This is inspired by a hulk comic I read years ago, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name or issue. I think it was a one-off story, possibly apart of the “What if?” stuff. Basically the premises was Bruce got sent to either the future or an alternate dimension where humanity had fallen into post-apocalyptic ruin. And because of Bruce’s powers the radiation only made him stronger and he ruled as king over a whole city of survivors who worshiped and feared him. There was also an underground rebellion trying to take the Hulk down and free everyone from his tyranny. I think they were also the ones to bring Bruce to their world and ask for his help. (If anyone recognizes this story and could let me know where it came from, I’d be eternally grateful! lol)
> 
> So for my story today, both Bruce and Tony have been sucked into the alternate universe and agreed to help the rebels in their fight, only to come face to face with their ruler, the Incredible Hulk!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this and if you have any requests feel free to send them my way by the 21st of July!

Coarse sand on his skin was the first thing Bruce felt when he slowly began to regain consciousness. Groaning, he shifted and tried to lift his face off the ground and open his eyes.

Sand and dirt. Lots of it. He could see giant hills in the distance. Billowing hot wind blew sand off the top of the dunes. The emptiness, the heat, but there was something else that Bruce could feel. Something was seriously wrong. It made Bruce’s instincts scream at him to run, hide, anything besides lying there like a sitting duck.

Where the hell had he woken up?

He couldn’t remember being knocked out, and he also couldn’t remember what had triggered the Other Guy either. But he must have, how else would he end up in a dump like this? He let his face fall back into the dirt, racking his brain to try and remember what happened. What could he last recall?

They had all been together. The Avengers Team. They were with Thor’s family in Asgard. They had been preparing to travel across the Bifrost home when… something started to interfere.

Bruce’s eyes shot open when it all came back to him.

He hadn’t transformed. That interference was enough to disrupt the bridge, warping it. Everyone one else had been on one side, but he and Tony… Oh god, Tony…

“TONY!”

He looked desperately around him, searching for any sign of red or gold, and spotted him a few yards behind where he fell. He was on his hands and knees. Staring at the ground.

Bruce scrambled for footing on the sand and rushed over to him.

“Tony! Oh my god, shit, I’m so sorry! Are you ok?”

Bruce reached out to touch his shoulders but pulled back when Tony raised a pointed finger in the air. Give him a minute. Bruce obliged, giving Tony some space and take care of himself. But he still felt horrible. It had taken the original team members, those closest to Tony, days to persuade him to come with them to Asgard. They all knew how he felt about teleportation but they had really needed his help. And now looked what happened? After all the times they had reassured Tony that everything would be fine.

Bruce stepped back, giving him space to breath, and looked more closely at their surroundings. All around him, seeming to stretch out forever was a complete wasteland. Bruce couldn’t even define it as a desert. At least deserts had some growth, some life hidden within it. But this was just… Nothingness. And for how hot it felt, Bruce couldn’t see the sun. Colossal red clouds covered the sky, so thick sunbeams could hardly pierce them. They definitely weren't on earth. Anywhere humanoid. Anywhere that even developed life possibly.

And Bruce’s instincts were still going berserk. He closed his eyes to focus on the feeling more. Normally if he’d woken up somewhere unfamiliar after changing into the Hulk, he’d feel exhausted. Weak enough to fall back asleep. And as a medical doctor, he knew that even if he hadn’t transformed, he should still feel tired or even sickly from this heat and dehydration. But he felt fine. In fact, he’d go as far as to say he felt good. Energized, in a way no normal human should in this state. He looked carefully down at his hands. And for a brief, terrifying moment, his skin seemed to ripple with green. It disappeared just as quickly as it came, almost making Bruce think it was a trick of his eyes. He clenched his hands into fists. He felt strong. Even without transforming he felt strong. In his experience within labs and backpacking around the world, he discovered only a tiny handful of circumstances that could make him feel like this.

“Tony?” Bruce asked, carefully stepping back towards him while he was still composing himself. “Normally I would suggest taking off the helmet, but right now you really, really shouldn’t. I this area is radioactive.”

Tony brought his hand up, scanning the area. And when he finally spoke he sounded tired. “Yep, high too.”

Tony seemed to be alright now and accepted Bruce’s hand as he pulled him up to his feet, suit and all.

“Where the hell are we?”

Bruce looked out at the wasteland, completely alien. “I have no idea. I’m sorry.”

Tony’s hand clench into a fist, and Bruce heard him breath heavily over the mic in his suit. “Well that’s just perfect! I can’t reach anyone. I can barely talk with Friday-”

“Wait, get down.” Bruce, grabbed his arm and tried to pull Tony down. But it was too late.

There was a group of figures sprinting towards them. Directly towards them.

“Get behind me.” Tony said briskly, standing in front of Bruce and readied his gauntlets to attack.

But the figures raised their hands in surrender. Tony let them get closer, though his hands were still raised. As they got closer Bruce saw how they were all wearing hoods and googles. Only three of them had obvious firearms but they were holstered. Nobody had weapons drawn actually.

When they were finally close Bruce realized just how young they all looked, they were all college-age at best. Maybe even high-school. One of the people stepped forwards, the leader Bruce could only assume. She pulled down her hood, openly gaping at the two of them.

“It worked...” She breathed, awed. “It actually worked!”

If Bruce could see Tony’s face he was sure he’d be furious. “Woah! What worked? What did you kids do to us?”

“We were trying to send out a distress signal and you answered it! Right?”

“Try dragged out of mid-teleportation!” Tony snapped. “Did you have any idea what you were doing?!”

Bruce touched Tony’s shoulder as he stepped out from behind him. He wasn’t happy about their current situation either but he didn’t want to escalate the situation any further. These were the only people they came across, in an area Bruce had thought was inhospitable. They needed answers more than anything. “Ok, but why? Why were you sending a distress signal?”

“We needed help! You’re help exactly, Dr. Banner.”

“Wait, you know me?”

“I’ll explain everything once we get to shelter. But please, we must get out of here now. If we-” She stopped mid rant when everyone heard the sound of a drone. Above them an electric blue craft circled above them slowly before flying off. The whole group became terrified and the leader turned back to Bruce and Tony. “You have to believe us! If we’re caught all is lost! Please!”

Tony and Bruce looked at each other, then back at the group.

“Well… not like we have any other choice.”

~~~

They were taken by the group to a cave network. And that was only after what felt like hours of riding on hover-bikes. It was hard to guess the time when you couldn’t see the sun, just over-cast clouds.

And once they were out of the elements things felt even more muddled. Soon though the group approached a gate. One that seemed centuries away from the rest of the technology these kids had access to. Like their scrapped-together weapons and rusty hover-bikes, everything was obviously home-made or at least repaired older models. But this thing seemed sleek, metallic, something Tony would have designed in his workshop back at home.

The leader punched a code into the door and ushered them into a room lined in lasers. One of the guys spoke as everyone was scanned. “This is the only way to ensure our base of operations stays safe. If you’re made of the right stuff there are plenty of entrances. But if you’re not, you’ll easily find there are no exits.”

“Cryptic.” Tony replied dryly.

A siren began blaring when the lasers fell over Bruce. And the leader quickly hurried back to the wall. “Hang on!” After a few muttered curse words the alarms finally shut down. Then the entire floor began to sink, and she hoped back onto the platform.

“I uh- I apologize, are security program considered you a threat at first. Sorry about that Dr. Banner.”

“Understandable… I guess.” Bruce said, sparing a glance to look up. From the speed the platform was taking, they were descending fast. The laser room was quick becoming a spec above them. “So, is it alright to get some answers now?”

“Yes, we owe you as much, more probably. My name is Talia.” The leader, Talia, answered. She took a moment to breath before continuing, getting her thoughts in order. “Our world didn’t always look like… that, out there. It used to be full of life. But then humanity turned on itself. They did something unforgivable and irreversible. Nothing grows now. It’s dangerous to stay out for too long. But from what our resources know, only a few scattered camps and villages of mutants can survive out in the wastelands. All we have is the city, it’s the only place safe from the radiation we know of.”

As she spoke, Talia and her team began taking off the covering and head gear. Everyone seemed to be wearing colors that might have once been bright neon but had been turned blander and dirtier from so much time outside and in caves. Tony popped his helmet off as they went down, suffering quietly with a serious case of helmet hair.

“How long has it been like this?” Bruce asked.

“Generations.” Talia said. “Humanity as we currently know of it has only survived due to our city. Vast enough to be called a kingdom. It was built by a brilliant man, but ever since it has been ruled by a monster. His rule is tyrannical, letting those he doesn’t favor suffer in squalor while a select few are brought to live in his palace as servants. Most people in the city consider him a god. But we know the truth. He’s not human, and considers everyone he’s supposed to care for as expendable. Unworthy of autonomy. He was alive before the apocalypse, and instead of the radiation killing him, it only made him stronger. Enhanced super strength, senses, intelligence. His entire body is indestructible. And he’s next to immortal with no weaknesses. He calls himself “the Emperor””

“So how do you expect us to take him down?” Tony pushed.

“We’ve been training in secret our whole lives. My people and I could take on the Emperor’s soldiers. If we strategize correctly. But none of us could ever take on the Emperor himself and survive. Only someone with superhuman powers comparable to his…” Talia, and her whole team turned to look expectantly at Bruce.

“Ok, how do you all know so much about me?” Bruce demanded, this was starting to get really weird. “If this earth went through an apocalypse years ago, how would you even know about the past?”

The platform came to a stop finally and two steel doors pulled apart, revealing a giant space, filled with glass cases and computers. Talia stepped forwards, hands outreached, obviously trying to calm down the situation as everyone in the lift got on edge. “We know because we learned. About our history, laws of science and morality, all our heroes of the past. We were taught much about you Dr. Banner, as well as you Mr. Stark. We have a library and museum full of ancient records and artifacts. It’s one of the most precious things in our base of operations. If the Emperor ever found out, we would truly be destroyed… And since our Avengers perished centuries ago, we reached out to other realities. And you were brought here to us. To help us defeat the Emperor. If you transform, you could be his equal, you could beat him.”

Bruce sighed, bringing his hands to his face. And following Talia and the others out of the lift and into their base. “There’s only one problem, when I… transform as you put it, it becomes an alternate personality. I have no control over myself. I refuse to let him loose near people, certainly not in humanity’s last standing city. I could destroy everyone.”

Talia thought for a moment, rethinking her plans.

An old lady in a wheel chair rolled over to Bruce before Talia could say anything. “What if we found a way to evacuate the area? It would have more risk, if we create too much disturbance the Emperor will be even more suspicious than he already is. But what if we managed to isolate the area? Could you risk transforming then? Because if we don’t have you, there’s no point in attacking the big green bastard!”

“Green?” The irking he got while Talia explained her history, the horrible feeling he’d had ever since landing here seemed to reach a peak and he knew in his heart who the Emperor was.

“The only man unbeatable enough to survive the end of the world.” The old woman said bitterly. “Look, if you can’t do it we’ll wait for our next chance. Send you and Mr. Stark back as soon as possible. Keep our history safe, teach the next generation and the one after that if we have to. We can’t risk losing our only base. But if you can, for the love of god, just help us Bruce.”

Bruce thought it over. It was risky. But how could he stand to the side when there was a chance he could do something to stop it?

“Ok. I’ll do it.”

All around him people began clapping and cheering. Talia looked relieved. And the old Lady, the actual leader of this rebellion Bruce now assumed, had a resigned look on her face. Lips set to a stiff frown. “We’ll strike tomorrow afternoon, when the Emperor visits the industry district. And at Dr. Banner’s request, we’ll spread the word to get as many people out of the area as we can. In the meantime we all must prepare for combat!”

Everyone cheered again and Bruce wondered what the hell he and Tony just got dragged into.

“Well, this should be interesting.” Tony said nudging his side.

~~~

Tomorrow came quickly and Bruce soon found himself dressed in similar wears like the rest of the rebels. Hidden in plain sight as they milled about the so-called factory district. Everyone was waiting. Soldiers in what looked like a fusion of mech-suits and gladiator armor began walking into the area, but there was no signs of the Emperor arriving yet.

Everyone one around him seemed excited. They were all full of confidence and restless energy, ready to take on whatever came their way. All last night Tony had helped improve everyone’s firearms and devices. And now he was hiding somewhere in the Iron Man suit, ready to give their forces air support and eyes.

“Any sign of the Emperor!” The old lady bark over their com-links.

Bruce heard Tony reply first. “No, no sight of- Wait… Here he comes! Oh my god!” It took him a moment to realize he was laughing, not crying or gasping for air.

“Get a hold of yourself Stark!” The Old Lady snapped.

“Sorry, my bad. Oh my god, Bruce you’re gonna love this! He looks so old! Got a big grey beard and everything!”

“And he’s the most sinister, powerful mastermind on this planet so you better watch your back right now!” The Old Lady snapped back. “Everyone listen up! This is it! This is everything we’ve been working for. Long before I came into this world, generations of students have been waiting for this day. Fight for everything you stand for, everything within you!”

The last part came in a rushed growl as the Old Lady was no doubt preparing to fight herself. “But if we fail today, if anyone is captured and questioned, for the love of all that is sacred keep your damn mouth shut! Our families have been waiting for generations and our only hope is being able to wait and remember! But today students we fight! For Humanity! For our history, and for our future!”

In the distance, a colossal chariot drove towards them. It took up the entire road and stood at the same height as some of the buildings. And Bruce could see a green figure standing behind it. An old Hulking green monster. Looking directly at him.

“Now.”

The people, the kids surrounding him charged, unsheathing their weapons. Directly attacking the soldiers all around them. The gladiators were caught by surprise and struggled to match the mob closing in on them. It was madness. Chaotic enough he began to feel flashes of green without feeling mad. The Other Guy really wanted to fight, but Bruce tried to hold him off as long as he could. He at least wanted to clear past all the soldiers and rebels before changing. Above, Bruce watched as Tony rocketed forwards, he was supposed to cut off the chariot’s pathway, hold off and weaken the second wave of soldiers running towards the mob.

But he went too far. He was getting too close to the chariot. Bruce wanted to scream but it happened so fast it was already too late.

The Emperor stood up and swatted at him like he was a housefly. And as Tony dodge his giant green hands, he was still for just a second too long and a burst of something powerful and blue struck Iron Man.

_TINMAN!_

He felt the Other Guy shutter through his mind, but tried to keep him at bay. Not yet… please not yet…

“Tony! Tony can you hear me?”

Bruce heard Tony grunt on the other end. “Shit! Whatever that was it just completely shut down the suit. Ripped right through it. Friday’s offline. Everything is down- Shit!”

When Bruce looked up to where Tony had fallen he saw soldiers all around the Iron Man suit. Piercing it with spears the same glowing color as the burst of energy. Prying it apart like a nut. When the suit was destroyed Bruce saw them drag Tony up, bringing him directly to the Emperor. Bruce’s stomach dropped down to his feet.

“Keep fighting! We can’t give up now!” Talia screamed over the coms.

“NO!” The old lady yelled louder.

“But Grandma Barton we can’t give up now!” Talia begged.

But the old Lady, Ms. Barton refused. “Everyone stop right now, back away from the soldiers. Get out of here if you can. And Banner don’t you dare change! They knew we would be here… we’ve been compromised.”

All at once the mob scattered, adults and teenagers ran in every direction. Many made it out. But Bruce and the rest were corralled into a square formation. The Emperor looked at them all, full of irritation and annoyance.

And the green filling Bruce’s vision was lasting longer and longer. Still he tried to hold the Hulk off. If this Emperor knew about the attack then he probably knew about Bruce and Tony. That would explain why he didn’t look surprised by the sudden appearance of the first fully-functioning Iron Man in centuries. And that meant he was probably prepared for Bruce too. Probably even wanted him to transform.

He tried to keep himself in control. Especially when the Emperor stood from his chariot, reached down swiping Tony into one hand, and began approaching the group of rebels.

“This is how you repay me?” He rumbled. His voice sounded too much like the Other Guy, but it was so strange to hear him speak in full sentences, not to mention the cracked worn age in his voice too. “For all I’ve done for humanity. I built this city for you, kept you safe from the radiation, from the sickness. And in turn you all conspire against me, make plans to _kill me_ … As if I could be killed.”

His voice seemed to drip with venom at those last words. He held Tony higher and began squeezing him. Bruce could see Tony struggle not to make any noise.

“I am not without my mercies however. I made a promise to protect humanity, not destroy it. I will forgive you all, children. But only after you show some sacrifice for your crimes today. A sacrifice in imprisonment, for all of you. And…” When he spoke, the Emperor had glanced from person to person, seemingly randomly. But as he squeezed Tony further, he looked directly at Bruce.

“The immediate destruction of this man.”

When he clenched his fist still tighter, Tony couldn’t hold back a scream he’d been biting down. Bruce could see the pain on his face, his hands were clawing at the Emperor’s grip, even as fruitless as it was.

The Other Guy went insane in his head.

_HE HURTING TINMAN!_

_Please no._ He begged inside his mind, trying to shut off the tidal wave of green surging through him. _It’s what he wants. This is a trap._

_HULK NOT CARE! HE KILLING TINMAN!_

He knew a transformation was inevitable. The last thing he heard before falling to the back of his mind was Ms. Barton demanding he not change while the young rebels all around him were screaming in terror…

When Hulk took control, he saw little humans scurrying all around his feet, running towards crummy buildings to hide.

But he didn’t care about them. His focus was solely on the Old Bully who was hurting his Tinman. The Old Bully had stopped squeezing Tinman. He was setting the Tinman down in his chariot.

“Step out of this chariot and you will be crushed.” Hulk heard him threaten his Tinman which only made rage course stronger through him. Then the Old Bully finally turned to face him again, smirking. “Dr. Banner I presume?”

Hulk roared at him. A roar that left all of the Bully’s men quaking and running but the Bully wasn’t fazed. He looked disappointed actually.

“I see… You’re from a world and time where you haven’t learned to control your powers? That’s a shame, I was looking forwards to an intellectual equal. But this should still be interesting.”

Hulk didn’t want to talk. That’s what Banner was for! He was for fighting and yelling! So he charged at the old Bully with raised fists.

But much to his surprise despite how wrinkly the older Hulk looked, he was still swift. Easily dodging Hulk’s slamming fists and bringing how own down, hard onto the Hulk’s chest. And it stung!

“I bet you think you have multiple personalities. You do, don’t you?” The Old Bully asked, shoving Hulk away. “It’s much easier that way… You always have somewhere to put all your anger and fear. A way to disassociate. A way to blame yourself without actually blaming yourself.”

Hulk aimed his hits at the Bully’s jaw. To make him shut up. Hulk didn’t like the things this mean old bully was saying. But the Bully kept talking and he shoved Hulk through the wall of some big building. The inside reeked of chemicals. And the Bully just kept on talking!

“You’re not two different creature Bruce. You’re not a man cursed either. It all you. It always was. Even this infantile manifestation of your rage.”

Hulk charged again, roaring. This Bully kept on using big words Hulk didn’t remember but he hated the tone in his voice. It made him want to smack him into the ground, beat him till his pride broke. If he could just land a damn hit on him! The old Bully kept dodging and deflecting everything Hulk through at him. And despite getting angrier, he didn’t feel any stronger. When the Old Bully shoved him back into a giant vat, he didn’t feel a burn as it burned at his skin. Hulk just pulled himself back up to go hit him again.

But even he couldn’t keep this up forever. As they continued to brawl, Hulk could feel that sleeping feeling creep in. That was his signal Bruce would wake up. He couldn’t wake up Bruce yet. He had to beat this stupid bully first!

Then for a brief second the bully stopped. Looking Hulk up and down. Thinking of something.

“Perhaps I could show you… I could teach you. Help you embrace all of your egos as I have. Help you realize your full potential.”

Hulk snarled at him, spitting a little bit of acid he’d kept in his mouth in the Bully’s face. Out of all the things he tried that day that was the only thing to catch the Bully off-guard. Hulk grinned at the Bully’s disgust as he wiped acid off his face.

“Ugh! You disgusting- Guess I’ll have to teach you manners too!”

Before Hulk could pull away, the Old Bully grabbed him by the shoulders and knocked his skull into his. Stars spun behind Hulk’s eyes and he tried to pull away. But the Bully’s grip wouldn’t let up and he threw both out them outside and slammed Hulk onto the ground.

He was exhausted now. He was too weak. Banner was going to wake up soon. He could feel it.

“Oh no you don’t.” The Bully growled, slapping him across the face. “Your first lesson is this, you can’t use your personalities to escape, Bruce. You got to suffer through all your consequences. There is no Hulk.”

Hulk weakly tried to force the Bully off of him but he didn’t move. Hulk saw him hold something yellow and thin in his hand. And then he quickly brought it up Hulk’s arm. It burned as it cut through him. It pierced his skin. Hulk was unbreakable. Hulk was supposed to be unbreakable, but this needle pierced his skin! Hulk hated needles, hate having people poke and prod at him. He wanted to fall asleep, have Banner come back.

But he wasn’t change back now. Whatever the Bully forced into him was keeping Banner away. Hulk realized he couldn’t even hear Banner. Where the hell was Banner?!

He hated how helpless he felt. The old Bully picked him up and put him in a chair. Metal clamps came down on his hands, feet and neck. Hulk hated being pinned down. Hulk hated being trapped! He looked around desperately, hoping he might find Banner. God, he wanted Banner to come back right now. He’d know what to do…

He felt a tiny weight be settled in his opened palm. The old Bully dropped Tinman in his hand.

“You ok big guy?” Tinman said, rubbing at his thumb. “Big guy?”

Hulk wanted to respond but his mouth felt fuzzy and weird. His whole body felt fuzzy and weird.

“What the hell did you do to him?!” Tinman shouted at the Bully.

“What was necessary.” Was the only answer the stupid, old, stupid bully gave. Then the chariot was off, rolling away from all the little rebels.

Tinman kept rubbing at the hand he sat in. “Hey, hey, come on look at me big guy. It’s gonna be ok. I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But we’ll figure this out and get out of here together. I promise.”

Figuring things out was Banner’s thing. Hulk tried to focus of the weight of Tinman in his hand while his eyes shut. Usually when he was tired he could feel Banner there, ready to wake up in his place. But right now he couldn’t feel anything. And as he closed his eyes he could only wonder desperately what on earth the Old Bully had done to his Banner.


	5. Triumph

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to try doing something cute and fun for “Triumph”. Tony and Bruce duke it out to see who’s the true pinball champ! (Fair warning I know nothing about pinball scoring, just that they’re big numbers lol)
> 
> And just a reminder, I’m also taking science bro request all through this and next week till the 21st.

In the common space at Avengers Tower, there was one room entirely dedicated to games. It had everything. A chess set at one end, several flat-screen TVs and nearly every video game consul known to man at the other. A pool table, a ping-pong stage, a foosball table and a round table that was perfect for any tabletop gaming. Arcade games and shelves of board games lined opposite walls. And the most recent addition to the room was a retro pinball machine. It was a great addition to the room, and secretly it was one of Tony’s favorites.

Lined up with all the arcade games, it gave off a warm glow from incandescent bulbs all over the thing and whenever the tiny stainless steel balls would bounce around they’d mike this happy sounding chime. It gave off a good vibe whenever the whole team was hanging out together, nice background noise. But Tony also enjoyed playing it even when he was one of the only guys in the game room. It reminded him of being a kid. Skipping pointless classes and sneaking off campus to hide-out in arcades.

And that’s how Bruce found him on one of their free-days. Most of the team had gone out to explore the city, but mostly everyone was taking their small break to catch up on sleep, relax. Tony seemed to be relaxing by playing pinball. But relax seemed like the wrong word. He was hyper-focused on the game in front of him. Eyes following the tiny silver ball as it bounced all over the board. Hands practically trigger happy, ready to punch the levers on each side of the board at a moment’s notice. It was a sort of fixation Tony usually saved for calculating difficult math work, or piecing together new equipment.

Bruce padded into the room quietly, trying not to blow Tony’s focus.

“Hey you!” Tony called out, not looking away from his game for a single moment. “Didn’t wanna go on a field trip to Brooklyn with Steve?”

Bruce shook his head, stepping close behind Tony, watching him play. “Nah. I decided to try reading some journals.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Seems like everyone’s working with stem cells right now. Pretty fascinating medical breakthroughs…” Bruce trailed off, really watching him play.

Tony’s reaction time was near impeccable, always keeping the ball from plummeting down yet also not sending it blindly crashing across the board. And he was raking in a pretty decent score so far, upwards of 700,000 and still going strong.

“Hey you’re pretty good!” Bruce commented, watching Tony go. “How long have you been playing?”

Tony smirked at him and began singing under his breath. “Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball-”

“Should have seen the Tommy reference coming a mile away.” Bruce sighed. Honestly, how could he not expect it? The guy was a walking encyclopedia for rock music, especially the classics.

“Probably. But it’s actually true in my case. When I was in boarding school I’d sneak out of all the boring classes.” Tony said. For a few moments though, he lost his concentration and he lost the ball. “Dammit! Eh, ain’t my best. At least I got on the leader board.”

“Not bad at all. You know I use to play a lot when I was younger too.” Bruce agreed. He didn’t remember everything that well from his childhood but he recalled going to a local arcade a handful of times

He could tell when Tony got an idea, smirking up at Bruce as he put more quarters into the machine.  “No kidding. Why don’t we make this a little more interesting then? You vs Me. Whoever gets the highest score wins. You game?”

“Alright, I’m game.” This should be fun.

Bruce went first. Preparing for the worst. No doubt Tony was going to be cheating this whole game, he was certain. And as soon as he pulled back the spring and set the pinball loose, Tony leaned up on one side of the machine.

“Sooooooo,” Tony began, tapping his fingers against the glass obnoxiously. “Do you need silence when you play? Can’t afford losing you focus.”

“No, I’m good.” Bruce replied easily and refusing to make eye contact with his boyfriend.

“Oh good, good, that must be nice. Being able to get in the zone. Filter everything out. That way you don’t get DISTRACTED!”

Bruce was unfazed, continuing to play.

“Damn your good. Didn’t even flinch!”

“I’d hope so, I’ve spent years training to keep my nerves in check.” Bruce said with a little pride of his own. “It’d be a waste if I couldn’t handle a little cheating.”

“Hey! I’m not cheating, just a little taunting!” Tony defended himself.

“Sure. And it’s definitely not the fact that you’re a sore loser.” Bruce taunted. Smiling a little when he saw Tony straighten up from his faux-relaxed state.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win. You know I will Bruce. Second place is first loser! And Starks don’t lose!”

Bruce stepped away from the machine as the words game over flashed across the board. Along with his score, 800,056. “I guess so, especially when there’s only two people playing.” Bruce replied with a smirk.

He watched as Tony read over his score. He bit the inside of his cheek and tried not to show how impressed and threatened he was.

“Looks like it’s your turn, _Wizard._ ”

When Tony stepped over to the pinball machine, he glanced back at Bruce with a quick smile. “Go easy on me big guy, not all of us are meditating masterminds with nerves of steel.”

“Oh? What happened to doing whatever it takes to win?”

“ _I_ do what it takes to win.” Tony said, pointing to himself. “ _You’re_ the sweet nerd who would never stoop to lying or cheating... Trying to get into your boyfriend’s head to win. Right?”

“I don’t know Tony. You said it yourself, second place is first loser.”

Tony didn’t respond to that. He just pulled back the spring and started his game.

Bruce was ready to strike. And he stepped directly behind Tony. “You ok if I stand right here?”

“Sure, sure you’re fine.” Tony said dismissively, trying to block Bruce out.

“What about now?” Bruce asked as he set his chin on Tony’s shoulder.

Tony’s shoulders moved a little but he didn’t try to dislodge Bruce. “You’re good. Just don’t try to poke me or mess with my hands. That’s low even for you.”

“Oh I’d never!” Bruce said smirking, but he kept his hands to himself. Even if both of them were playing dirty he still had a code of honor. Instead he kept trying to pull at Tony’s focus. “So I gotta ask T-Bone, which hand are you dominant with? Cause you seem to be relying on that left hand pretty heavily.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. I mean, just look at it. You keep using the left levers. Even when the balls on the right side you keep hitting the left instinctively. Besides pulling the trigger, your right hand barely does anything. In your defense, the left side does have two different levers. I always wondered about that, you know. Why does the left side get an augmentation? Why did that ever become a thing? The right side doesn’t have any advantage. That means if the ball falls onto the right side of your board you’re more likely to lose.” Bruce carefully timed each thing he said. Saying left when the ball was on the right, keeping his words always opposite to try to annoy and throw Tony off.

“Yep. That sure sounds interesting or whatever. Keep talking.” Tony for his part tried to keep his cool. But he hissed when the ball narrowly missed falling through the center. As he played he kept sparing quick glance up at the score board to see how far he was from Bruce’s score. He’d broken 777,000. If he could just hang on a little bit longer…

Bruce wasn’t making it an easy task. He kept his hands to himself and didn’t shout randomly, but he did keep talking about opposites and all the technicalities to pinball.

But then he lost track of the ball, accidentally swayed by Bruce’s taunting and the ball fell.

“Shit!” He seemed disappointed, but when Tony turned to Bruce he was grinning. “Oh my god, that was diabolical, Bruce. I thought you were supposed to be the nice one.”

Bruce shrugged, smiling back. “It’s always the ones you least suspect!”

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up! If I’d done something like that I would have won for sure. And you would have complained the whole time, saying I was-” Tony’s grumbling was cut short when he caught sight of his score. 800,074. “Ha! In your face! I still won anyways!”

Bruce was surprised by the score as well, they’d come pretty close. But a win was a win and Tony’s triumph had been decently earned. Though Bruce couldn’t help but wonder how much better they’d both be when they weren’t terrorizing one another while they played?

“Nicely done. So what did you win exactly?”

Tony paused from his gloating. “I don’t know, we never agreed to any prizes…” He looked like he was thinking for a moment before looking back towards Bruce. “Wanna go again? This time whoever loses has to… Loser has to revise all the paperwork from SHIELD.”

“Oh you’re so on.” Bruce said, ready to play again. Though, if Bruce were honest, he didn’t care either way. Even when he lost he felt like he was winning.

And so did Tony.

But neither of them were looking forwards to the mountain of reports and tedious forms SHIELD expected the Avengers to take care of, so it was game on.


	6. Eclipse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe this week’s coming to a close soon! I’ve had a lot of fun writing for these two nerds more often, and I’ve absolutely loved everyone’s art and writing! You guys are awesome! And I can’t wait to see what everyone does for today and tomorrow’s themes! Here’s my take on today’s word, “Eclipse”!
> 
> I’m also taking requests till the 21st! And if you’ve already made a request you can expect those soon next week!

Most of the Stark family property could be separated into two main categories. The southwest where most of the US-made industry branched out from Silicon Valley. And the Northeast area, both in New York City and some hidden property out on the countryside.

Personally Tony had always preferred the west coast. More space, more sunlight, better everything in Tony’s book. Plus it was where he’d built his mansion in Malibu. Sure, it’d been bombed and everything besides the storage space underground was gone but he still liked the property. The whole cliffside overlooking the sea thing always was super scenic. And it was a great spot for hosting parties.

But today it was just him and Bruce. The Avengers had been called out to California this weekend to help save the day. Something about an evil weirdo taking over the country with an army of genetically enhanced “cyberpigs”. Everything had been resolved smoothly. The creep was caught and his so called “undefeatable legion of swine”, his words not Tony’s, had been corralled together and taken by SHIELD. They were scheduled to be flying home later that afternoon. So earlier in the morning when it was still obviously night, Bruce had woken Tony up and somehow persuaded him to sneak out to go see the Malibu property before they had to fly back to Avengers Tower on the opposite side of the country.

Tony still felt half-asleep as he sat there right on the edge. Feet dangling high above the ocean as he sipped his coffee, silently watching waves crash brutally into the cliff and rocks below. The sun still hadn’t risen yet. Earlier the ocean looked like a pitch black void. Stretching out forever. Only a few scattered stars had shone before and now had slowly begun to fade. Tony could see bits of blue and purple layering onto the sky, slowly growing brighter and warmer as the sun prepared to rise just behind him.

And Bruce was right there at his side, staring out at the changing ocean. He was frowning, he usually did when he got into deep thinking, but his whole body seemed at peace too. Tony liked seeing him like this. The minute creases within creases when he knit his brow. But he wasn’t worried or stressed, in times like this he looked like he was enjoying himself. And Tony always admired that determined look he’d get on his face. The sea breeze pulled at his hair, letting the greying hair shine and blow loosely in the wind. He finally let his hair grow back out which Tony had been quietly thrilled about. He never admitted it to Bruce but he’d missed his curls. Always gave him that cute mad-scientist look he loved.

When the sky started growing brighter, warm purples and red began coloring the horizon at their backs, Bruce got up from the cliff and started walking towards the patio that use to be Tony’s driveway. Sparing the sea one last glance Tony turned around and got up too.

“Ok, so why did you drag me out of bed at 5 in the morning?”

Bruce stopped near the center of the driveway and began to watch the sun slowly rise.  “Well, I wanted to try something before heading back to New York.”

“And what is that exactly?” Tony asked.

“Just some meditation and stretches.” Bruce replied, bringing his hands together and taking a deep breath as he readjusted his posture.

At least that explained why Bruce said not to bother changing out of their pajamas. Tony himself wasn’t much of a meditator. He’d tried a bunch of times before but he could never get his mind to go silent like Bruce’s seemed to. But even then sometimes if he had the patience to sit still long enough, he found he had fun doing a little yoga with his boyfriend. But this was a weird time to suddenly decide to run away, just to do yoga.

“Not to kill the mood buddy but you do yoga, like, 24 hours a day!”

“Yeah, but I wanted to do something a little different this time.” Bruce explained. “Don’t get me wrong, New York is nice. It’s a challenge, really makes me check my discipline. But’s it’s been a while since I could be anywhere so… isolated, you know? Keeps my head clear.”

“Yeah, I can get that. It is… different out here.” As much as Tony enjoyed living in the Avengers base with everyone, sometimes he did miss living in his own place. Back when the mansion first got trashed Tony had thought about rebuilding it, but he’d been in a huge purge mindset and decided to keep it in the past with his arc and his iron legion.

Then again, Tony saw how hilariously short that “end” to being Iron Man had been. Maybe he could rebuild the mansion too. It wasn’t like money would be an issue. And he’d built a mansion on this cliff once when his consultants said it would be impossible, who’s to say he couldn’t do it again? It’d definitely be nice having somewhere more permanent to stay whenever their work called them over to the west coast.

Maybe he could talk it over with the team. Bruce seemed like he’d be open to the idea at least. This time around he’d make sure to keep some of the cliff in its natural state, somewhere away from the building, closer to the water. Bruce would probably like that. He was pulled from his base-designing when the real Bruce said something. Tony hadn’t heard him and was ready to ask him to say that again.

When Tony looked over at Bruce, he felt his heart melt.

Bruce was smiling softly. The rising sun seemed to frame his face. Pinks and yellows glowing behind him while beams of sunlight shined out, almost like a halo, as Bruce eclipsed the sun. Absolutely stunning. Beautiful.

“Tony?”

He quickly shook his head, moving to stand next to Bruce instead of behind him.

“Yeah, no, I’m good. Let’s get this over with.” He said a bit rushed.

“Ok, you sure?” Bruce asked, a little unsure still. “Cause I wouldn’t mind if you don’t feel like it. I know this sort of stuff isn’t really your thing.”

“Eh, I’m willing to try if you are.”

“Ok.” Bruce said quietly. He closed his eyes, breathing slower and slower, palms facing the rising sun. Completely and utterly serene.

And Tony couldn’t get over how gosh darn beautiful his boyfriend was. Even if he had dragged him out of bed at five in the goddamn morning to go look at the stars and watch the sun rise together.


	7. Yours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is! Last prompt! This whole week has been such a blast! Honestly it really rekindled my love for science bros, I didn’t realize how much I missed writing for these two! And now this week has even inspired me to flesh out my day 4 prompt into a full fic! And it’s wonderful to read some many different stories and see such cute art everywhere again! You guys are just so great and wicked talented!
> 
> And while “Yours” may be the last official prompt, I’m still going strong, and will begin publishing some of the request that I’ve received. And if there’s any ideas you’d like to see me write feel free to send them my way! I’ll keep going till the 21st!

It was a Monday morning and the Banner/Stark family was getting ready for a new day and a new week.

Bruce had several of his lectures this late morning until the afternoon and a few labs in the evening so it would be a full day for him. Tony was organizing all his blueprints, his research, to bring it all back to work with him. And their two oldest had school. It had become a ritual of sorts when they had the time in the morning for Tony and Bruce both to go see them off at school before going their separate ways to their own jobs. Bruce got two lunches together as well as one for himself while everyone went about their morning routines in the kitchen.

Tony had their youngest kid, little Kennedy, in one arm as he brought several holographic blueprints all around their kitchen back into a tablet with the other hand. Bruce always loved the awestruck look Kennedy would get on her face, entranced by all of her Daddy’s holographic work. Today she would be going with Tony to work over in the Stark industries. Tony’s reasoning was always that having a cute little tike in the room made it surprisingly easy to make deals and get through long-winded meetings but Bruce always had a feeling he did it just because he liked to bring her with him to work.

Ramona, their oldest at 11, had her nose in her workbook. Just like her adoptive fathers she was brilliant, but especially like Tony she had a bad habit of putting off busy-work she didn’t like till the literal last minute. So she scribbled out a half-assed homework assignment for her English class as she drank a bowl of cereal straight from the bowl, forgoing a spoon as she hurried.

And their middle child at 9 and only boy, Aiden, came quietly down the stairs. He seemed upset about something. He barely made a peep as he poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down next to his sister. Bruce wanted to ask him what was wrong but he had learned with Aiden if you were too sudden or direct with him, he’d shut down. So Bruce stayed back and waited. Aiden would open up in his own time. When he did speak up, Bruce made sure to let him know he was listening.

He came over Bruce and leaned heavily onto his side. “Hey Papa? Can I skip school today? I don’t feel good.”

Near instantly Bruce brought his hand to feel Aiden’s forehead. He felt fine, no fever. But he did still seem really upset about something. After several mishaps it had become a family rule to only ask Bruce to miss school. Tony would always say yes and let the kids go to work with him instead. And while both of them had crappy experiences with the American School system, Bruce still wanted their kids to at least try going to school. As long as nothing was wrong of course.

“I’m not sick.” Aiden admitted honestly. “I just don’t feel good.”

“Well then how do you feel?” Bruce tried gently.

“I don’t know. Bad? I just want to miss school for one more day, please Papa?”

Bruce wanted to say yes. But he also wanted to understand. There wasn’t much he could do for Aiden unless he knew what was hurting his son. “Maybe. Can you explain why you don’t want to go to school?”

“You remember Thursday?”

“Yes.” Last Thursday Bruce had to go meet Aiden at the principal’s office after he got in a fight with a kid in the fourth grade. He hadn’t hurt him badly but still made an awfully strong impression on the kid, all his friends and his very angry mother.

“All Friday I kept seeing him. We didn’t fight but I could hear them laughing when I wasn’t looking. I felt really mad all day.”

Bruce felt himself getting mad but he tried not to show it. “Do you want me to go in and talk to your Principal about it?”

“No!” Aiden shouted, panicked. “They don’t actually mess with me. They’re too scared to now. If they got in trouble things would only get worse…”

Sadly Bruce could understand that, in 30 years the public education system still impossibly mishandled bullying in their schools.

“This whole weekend though I didn’t see him. I felt fine. And I want to feel fine today too.”

“Aiden.” Bruce said sighing. No way in hell he’d ever put his children in harm’s way. But he hated to think that a place meant for him to learn and grow had become a place he hated. A lot like himself. “Aiden? You know we’re really alike, you and me. I had a lot of anger issues when I was a little older than you.”

“So what did you do?” Aiden asked.

Bruce tried to think back on his own experience, something that would help Aiden understand. “Well, it doesn’t just disappear, your emotions. It’s healthy to let things go but sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re really letting something go, or if you’re just swallowing it down. Letting it bottle up inside you. If that makes any sense at all.”

“I guess. Our teacher always is telling us to forgive and move on.”

“She’s coming from the right place. But sometimes it’s hard to just drop the way you feel. Even if everyone around you assumes you should. And it’s ok. You’re allowed to feel upset about a situation or a person.” Bruce continued, not wanting to give Aiden the wrong idea. “However, it’s not fair to act out on the way you feel just because you’re upset and no one else is. You can defend yourself, but it’s not nice to hurt others deliberately.”

“I know that, Papa. I just don’t want to feel so bad all the time.”

“Well I found the best thing to do is talk to people. Talk to someone you trust about the way you feel. Or if you don’t feel comfortable talking you could try keeping a journal. You could write in it whenever you’re upset and when a problem you have is resolved. Finding an outlet to channel your emotions into can be very helpful. Do you understand Aiden?”

“Yeah Papa.”

“Do you still want to miss school for today?”

“… Can I? Just for today.”

Bruce sighed in defeat. “Hey Tony, you got room for another kid today?”

“Always do!” Tony said beaming and ruffling up Aiden’s hair. “I can take you down to the workshop when Kennedy’s taking her nap. That’s how you really learn, working out in your field, gaining experience! Hey Ramona!”

“Tony no-“

“You wanna skip school too? We can do a field trip!”

Ramona considered it, but in the end she shook her head and shoved her homework into her book bag. “I can’t. I have a spelling test.”

“Well you know if you’re sick on a test day, you can always take it the next day. And you get an extra 24 hours to study.”

“Tony!”

“I’m kidding!” Tony said, kissing Bruce on the cheek as he collected up his laptop and scooped up Kennedy back into his arms. “You sure sweetie?”

“Yeah I’m good.” Ramona said, strapping on her backpack.

“Alright. We’ll drop you off at school, then we’ll head out to work.” Everyone began grabbing their things and heading for the front hall. And Bruce took a tiny moment just to watch them go. Smiling. He had a family. Bruce Banner truly had a family.

Tony gave him a teasing look, swinging the front door open rather dramatically. “Hello? You coming big guy? We don’t have all day!”

“Yeah, I’m coming!” He said, looking down and grabbing his keys before leaving for the day.

Bruce was ready to follow them all out the door when something strange happened. And the illusion began to crack.

_Bruce!_

He could hear Tony saying something. When Bruce looked up, he was already down the hall with the kids. But his voice sounded like it was directly in front of him.

“Bruce? Are you feeling alright?”

_Bruce! Bruce, come on! You gotta snap out of it!_

Tony’s voice was right there in his face, and it sounded so different. Frantic, maybe even scared. And he knew the truth was there. Standing in plain sight. A part of Bruce had known the whole time. An inkling in the back of his mind. He’d just hoped it had been a trick. That he was just feeling paranoid over nothing.

But he was fast realizing the truth. And everything began slowly fading away.

He felt himself stumbling back. He needed to get out of here. But he never wanted to leave!

“Papa?” Aiden and Ramona looked at him with eyes full of fear. Kennedy started crying.

_Come on! I know you can break out of this!_

He wanted this to be real. He felt like he was being torn apart. Please, just let him keep this.

_BRUCE!_

But he couldn’t. Because Bruce Banner didn’t have a house in the city with houseplants in every room and garden boxes in every window. Bruce Banner didn’t have an esteemed position with one of the biggest universities in the country. Bruce Banner didn’t have a healthy hold on his emotions. Bruce Banner didn’t have kids. And he never would have kids because it was too dangerous. Bruce Banner had horrible powers and many people wanted him caged or dead.

And as Tony and their children raced towards Bruce, he felt like he was falling backwards. He looked at them all one last time and closed his eyes. 

When he opened his eyes again it was all gone.

 

 

He was lying on his back. On an alien planet. And Tony was right there, staring down at him and looking extremely relieved.

“Thank god, knew you could do it!”

Bruce let Tony pull him upright. There was a migraine pulsing in the front of his head but he still forced himself to wake up. All around them it seemed like other members of their group were in similar states. Some recovering with headaches, others still lost is some sort of trance. The red aura of the Scarlet Witch was hovering over everyone. “What the hell happened?”

He remembered everyone being split into two groups. Bruce was in one and Tony was in the other. And from the looks of it something had gone horribly wrong in Bruce’s team.

“We’re not 100% sure yet. But from what we collected, one of Thanos’s lackys got into Wanda’s head and used her powers against her. It’s like she was hacked. Those alien guys are still trying to calm her down.”

Bruce could see the Scarlet Witch several yards away. She was completely trapped in her own powers. Eyes glowing a bloody, deep red and she was openly sobbing. She was crying out incoherently and Bruce could make out her brother’s name in her words. She was completely unaware of the people surrounding her, trying to help her. One of the alien woman with a set of antenna on her head grabbed Wanda’s arm and began crying too.

“Pepper told me everything she knew. Wanda was showing everyone in your group their desires. Like the really big stuff. And from the look of it she’s been seeing her own desires too.”

His desires… It truly was an illusion. Just a trick of the mind. None of it was real.

“Hey Bruce? You ok?”

_Bruce? Are you feeling alright?_

It would never be real.

He found himself getting up fast. Tony was at his side asking him if he was really alright to keep going. Bruce said he was. But he couldn’t look directly at Tony. Whenever he did he kept seeing flashes of that other Tony sketching out some blueprints in a kitchen. Or that other Tony holding their kids by the hand. Tony actually relaxed, truly happy and utterly carefree. A Tony that wasn’t real, couldn’t be real. At least not the Tony he knew right now.

But he couldn’t afford to let that distract him any more than it had. Their team was in trouble and needed his help. Now.

So he tried to swallow down the turmoil of feelings coursing through him. Tony tried to talk to them as they went but Bruce couldn’t bring himself to truly listen to him. He still couldn’t look at him. He felt like he was lagging behind his body a few steps. Everything was going so slow and they had work to do. He and Tony went separate ways to try reviving as many of their teammates and friends as they could. And as they all came back to their senses, regrouped and prepared to head out, Bruce’s mind and heart refused to go numb.

Bruce isolated himself as much as he could once they were on the Guardians’ ship. Some sort of small storage space. He needed to be alone. He needed to find a way to shut his brain off.

Every time he closed his eyes he could still see it. The house. The kitchen. Tony with the kids. God, his _kids_. That had to of been the cruelest part of all.

He just wanted to forget the whole thing. Stop thinking entirely. But his mind wouldn’t stop. Nothing he did would make it stop. He couldn’t let the image go, it was seared into his mind. And his brain kept going and going, it felt like white static in his skull.

When he heard someone come to the door he was ready to snap at them to leave him alone. Just give him a minute! But he held the words back when he saw it was one of the alien women, Mantis. In the time Bruce had gotten to know the Guardians he’d learned Mantis was a well-meaning but shy and soft-spoken person. And he’d feel bad for yelling at her for no reason. So instead, as she stepped into the small storage space he’d let her come in.

“Hello. Mantis, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” She said. Bruce had been willing to let her in, but when she sat down on the floor across from him he tensed. “Are you ok? You stormed off after the attack. Many people seemed concerned about you. Especially with the whole mind-manipulation you were caught under.”

“I’m fine. I just needed some time alone. To get my head on straight. I’ll be alright in a couple minutes.” Bruce said, trying to gently get Mantis to leave.

But instead, much to his dismay, Mantis didn’t seem to pick up on his suggestion and scootched a little closer towards him. Looking rather excited for someone sitting on the floor of a storage unit with Bruce Banner. “Perhaps I can be of assistance then!”

“Uh thanks, but that’s not necessary-” Bruce tried, but Mantis quickly brushed him off.

“No. You see, this is the sort of situation my powers were made for! I have the ability to feel another’s emotions. To help others understand! All I need to do is touch their skin with my hand and I can know them. I can do this for you! If you’re willing of course.”

She held her hand towards Bruce and he thought it over. The idea of someone knowing exactly how he felt seemed very invasive to him. And usually he handled his own emotions himself where he couldn’t bother, upset or hurt anyone else.

And yet despite that he still found himself rolling up his jacket and offering his arm to Mantis. Curiosity was a cursed thing.

As soon as Mantis’s hand touched his arm she doubled over shuddering. Bruce feared for the worst when he saw her antenna began to glow green and she drew a shuddering breath. But she didn’t grow any worse than that and slowly pulled herself back up.

“Oh… Oh my goodness…” Mantis gasped, trying to compose herself. She looked back to Bruce looking like she was about to either start sobbing or screaming. But she kept talking in between shaky breaths. “You’re mourning a dream. You’re yearning for something, but it’s so painful! It’s broken your heart so many times. But it still aches. And it infuriates you so. It’s… It’s so much!”

She pulled her hand away and hugged it on her chest as if it had been burned. It took all of Bruce’s willpower not to get up and leave when Mantis turned towards him with such pity.

“Do you feel like that all the time?”

Bruce shrugged, trying to ignore that direct look. “Not all the time. Not as often.”

“Oh…” Mantis said.  She looked like she wanted to touch Bruce again, but she pulled her hand back. “I’m sorry you feel like that Bruce. That hurt.”

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s not your doing.”

“I understand. But I still wish I could help more. You’re feeling so many different emotions at once.”

Mantis didn’t continue right away. She paused for a moment, trying to collect her own thoughts. And a weird-feeling silence took up the space before Mantis worked together what exactly she wanted to say. “There was some strange things in your feelings. I sensed a great loneliness in you. But not only that, you had this acceptance for loneliness too… Perhaps you should go talk to some of your friends? I know you hold a lot of compassion for them and they care for you too. The woman with red hair, the woman with red hair who’s also molten hot, the man with lightning. And especially the Iron Man.”

“Ok that’s starting to sound more like mind-reading.” Bruce said accusingly.

“Oh, no. I didn’t pick that last part up in your feeling. No, I saw it seeing you and your friends’ battle and in the aftermath.” Mantis added. “Many of them did seemed worried about you.”

Bruce sighed. He was beginning to wonder if Thor and the others pushed Mantis to come in here to try and help him. He rubbed at his face. “Ok. Well can you go tell them I’ll be out soon? I just need a little more time. Alone.”

This time Mantis accepted what he was saying. And with a quiet “Of course” She got up and made her way back into the hallway.

“Thanks for your help.”

Mantis stopped before leaving completely, confused. “I don’t understand. I got so overwhelmed when I tried to read you. I wasn’t able to help you.”

“You did try. And even if it’s not everything, it was… nice, I guess, to put a name to some of this… stuff.” Bruce offered, and gestured to his head as he spoke.

Hopefully that had been the right thing to say. Mantis straightened up a little and smiled from the door.

“Ok. I’ll leave you be for now then. Are you going to speak with anyone else?”

“I will, don’t worry. I think I’ll go talk with Tony later. Iron Man.” He owed his boyfriend that much. He was a huge part of the vison after all. And he’d been avoiding him for half-an-hour now because every time he looked at his he was reminded of that fake Tony in his dream. He owed him an explanation at least.

He finally left the room after a few more moments alone. As he walked through the ship he saw the damage done. Today’s attack had hit harder than any physical tactic waged against them. Moral had plummeted. And Bruce felt helpless as he saw the state of everyone in his group. Nat seemed like she still might be in a trance, she starred numbly out a window at the stars. One of the Gaurdians, Gamora, sat by her side giving her an understanding look but didn’t say anything. Thor acknowledged him as he passed but his lips were firmly pressed into a tight frown and his hand clutched at a hammer no longer there. Several people were still crying. Wanda especially so. And Mantis was going from person to person, trying to help people the best she could. Giving council to those willing to accept it.

He found Tony down in the workshop-station. The one run by an ornery but brilliant raccoon. But Rocket wasn’t in there at the moment. Nobody else but Tony. He was hard at work repairing one his busted gauntlets on the Iron Man suit.

Bruce knocked on the wall as he came in, “Uh, hi?”

“Hey you!” Tony called out in a slightly forced voice as he looked up from his gauntlet. He pulled off a pair of goggles so he could see him better. “What’s up?”

“I was just looking for you. Everyone seems really… worn from today’s fight.” Bruce said.

Tony sighed and began to let that front he’d first put on slide. “Yeah. Looks like our buddy Thanos isn’t above psychological warfare. Are you doing ok? Cause everyone was forced to see some pretty messed-up stuff.”

“Yeah, I’m ok enough. That’s… That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. My vision.” Bruce came closer and sat by Tony’s side.

“You don’t have to tell me what you saw if you don’t want to, Bruce.”

“I know…” Bruce said. Tony didn’t respond so Bruce kept going. “I didn’t have my powers… We had a family. We were all eating breakfast. They were getting ready for school.”

He watched as Tony’s closed his eyes and rubbed at his eyelids. “Shit. I’m sorry Bruce.”

“It’s not your fault. It was my own mind that was manipulated.”

“But I know how much you like kids…”

He heard Tony sigh. And neither of them said anything. He quietly turned to look more closely at him. The real Tony Stark. In the florescent lighting and his own exhausted state, Tony almost looked ashen. And with them fighting every day Tony’s hair had gone a long time without any dye and had really started greying along the sides. He was thinking hard about something. Probably overthinking. And whatever it was it wasn’t good from the way he looked towards his broken gauntlet with such a resigned acceptance.

“… Do you think we could ever do that? I mean, if we somehow manage to survive all this and save the world. You think when we get back to earth, we could ever do that?”

Bruce didn’t know what to say. Yes. He’d wanted something like that for years, decades now. He’d always wanted to be a father. But he would never be able to give them a safe home. Any kid they might take in might always be in trouble just being in proximity of him. And that was even if any adoption agency would ever like the likes of them adopt kids. But he had finally mastered his powers, he found peace with the other part of himself. But there were also so many other obstacles in their way than his own powers.

“I don’t know. I’m really sorry. I want to but I just don’t know.”

He felt Tony, gently hug his shoulders. And he spoke softly. “Hey, it’s ok. It’s alright. Honestly. I mean, who even knows if we’ll ever get back to earth!”

Tony laughed, but there was a grim look in his eyes. And Bruce found himself mirroring back that sad, sort of humor. “We don’t even know if we’ll live long enough to see the end of this war.”

“Yeah, you’re right. So I’m gonna say this. And I’ll probably tell you every day we’re still alive cause I’m dramatic like that, you know.” Tony said, he held Bruce by both so hid shoulders so they were looking face to face. Then slowly moved closer as he spoke until their foreheads were touching.

“No matter what happens I’m staying right here. I’ve never regretted choosing to be with you and I never will. I love you, Bruce Banner. I’m yours.”

Bruce pressed his lips softly against Tony’s trying to convey everything he was feeling. And he felt Tony smiling against him as he pulled away.

“And just in case you wanted a reminder. This? This right here? This is real.”

“Yeah… I hoped so.”


	8. Request 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty! My first request comes from sunsetcomiche (on tumblr)  
> “Hi! So, you mentioned that you're taking requests, and I remembered that I have a page FULL of Science Bros prompts, so I grabbed a couple of them that could apply to Science Bros Week. (And if you want to view the whole page, it's linked under my bio). ;) - #1. Something where Bruce fixes the arc reactor. (Perhaps he’s the only one who knows how.) If you wanted to go for "Light." - #16. Literally anything where Tony and Bruce keep a score tally for a thing(s). This could work for "Triumph."”
> 
> I think I’ll go with your first request! I got an idea for that one! Thank you so much for requesting Sunset and I hope you enjoy this! (Gotta say though, still to this day the arc confuses me. Lol It sends out electromagnetic pulses to keep shards away from his heart, but when it’s removed he acts like he’s having a heart attack and his heart has stopped entirely? And the older models were also poisoning him?)
> 
> If there’s any story-ideas you’d like to read about, hit me up with any requests cause I’m accepting them till July 21st, tomorrow.

When Bruce slowly came back to himself he knew something was wrong immediately. All his limbs felt like jelly and his focus kept blurring in and out. The Other Guy had taken him far away from the fight, he was waking up somewhere in the woods. But he could still faintly hear the sound of the Avengers fighting in the distance. Back down at the Hydra base hidden in an isolated valley. He could see laser blasts and smoke rise up miles away.

He had woken up way too early.

But it might take hours to drag himself back down there to the rest of the team. Why had he changed so far away from the fight? He got his answer when one thought raced through his mind. One that couldn’t be his own.

_FIX TINMAN!_

Bruce looked to his side and sure enough Tony was there, lying on a half-squashed stretcher a few yards away from him. He was still wearing bits and pieces of his suit. Sparks were coming off of the chest plate. And the Hulk hadn’t just dropped them randomly in the middle of the woods, Bruce realized now Hulk had set them near the quinjet Natasha had flown them all in on hours ago.

_FIX HIM!_

With that, the Other Guy’s presence disappeared completely from his mind and he was left alone. Grunting, he pulled himself off the ground and tried to blink away the dizziness as he got to his feet. Stumbling, he made his way over to Tony and saw the damage up close.

There was a hideous gash, it sliced right through Tony’s chest plate. Starting from the lower right, going over where the arc normally was and up to the left shoulder. From the lack of light anywhere else on the suit he feared it was all off-line. And Tony appeared to be unconscious. Skin blanched to the point it nearly looked blue, and his lips were parted. His breathing was ragged and irregular.

Bruce gently jostled Tony’s shoulder. Thankfully Tony woke back up after that, though he was wheezing and shuddering even more violently awake. When he made eye contact with Bruce Tony seemed to be under a haze. Pupils dilated. 

“Bruce? That you? Good. Big guy listened to me…”

He must have somehow persuaded Hulk to change. But Bruce couldn’t afford to give it much thought. Tony needed medical attention right now. Pulling from reserves he didn’t know he had Bruce grabbed Tony’s stretcher and pushed him onto the quinjet. “What happened? What do you need?”

“Suits busted.” Tony said, weakly tapping at the chest piece. He flinched when he dropped his hand down a little too hard. “I got hit really hard. I went down. And- shit! Somethin’s wrong with my arc.”

“Ok Tony, hang on. It’s gonna be ok.” Bruce tried to carefully pry the two halves of the chest piece off. They didn’t come off easily, but after a bit of tugging Bruce finally got the chest off completely and let it clatter onto the jet floor.

Only to find that the cover of the arc had been completely shattered. And it was now flickering in sparks.

When Tony’s saw it his eyes bugged. He squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall back against the stretcher. “Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”

It looked bad. Really bad. Bruce was amazed it could still have power for looking so… broken. And from the way Tony reacted to the arc Bruce knew it couldn’t possibly be an easy fix. And it wasn’t like they had spare arcs rolling around on the floor. He was starting to panic. They both were.

Bruce grasped Tony’s shoulders, trying to ground him. “Tony! Tony, you have to stick with me! What can I do to fix the arc?”

“Wha-“

“I can do whatever you need me to do. But I need you to stay awake and give me some direction. Come on Tony. We can do this.”

That seemed to work on Tony some. His breathing, still sporadic, had quieted down at least. And he opened his eyes to look at Bruce and his own chest. Bruce saw him biting at his cheek as he looked over the damage again.

Bruce had helped Tony before. With the arc’s recharging when Tony was too exhausted and a few times with arc replacements. But never something this unclear or dire. He may have been just as much an engineer as he was a biologist, but he’d still need some direction from Tony to make sure he did this right.

Tony tapped at his cracked arc as he spoke. “This- this guy’s busted but I got some time. This isn’t like instant death. More like, death in a couple hours?”

“Tony-”

“It won’t last long. I’ll need to do a replacement stat if we can make it back to the tower. But for now we gotta patch this baby up. Keep her stable till we get home.” Tony was trying to be all funny and cute. But between the dying pale skin and the shaky breathing after every couple words it only made Bruce feel worse.

“Patch it up?” He asked incredulously.

“Yeah, like driving on a spare tire till you can get it replaced. It won’t last forever but it’ll keep me alive.”

Bruce couldn’t believe it. His boyfriend was dying as they spoke and he expected to survive off temporary solutions till they could get a real arc? What if something happened in the quinjet as they flew home? What if something happened to their team that forces them to stay longer? Everything could go horribly wrong far too easily and Tony was putting all his faith on a spare tire?

“You ok to do this?” Tony asked, sounding really unsure.  “Cause… You look like you’re gonna pass out Bruce.”

Crap, Bruce hadn’t even thought of that. He was going straight from transformation into emergency arc repairs? He could barely walk straight! But everyone else was still at the Hydra base and Tony’s heart couldn’t wait a moment longer. “I can do it. I’ll just have to sit down. And I should probably drink something first.”

Bruce found a chair and rolled it directly next to Tony. And as he hurried about the quinjet looking for anything the remotely resembled equipment he took quick sips of one of the electrolyte drinks kept on all the ships.

When it was good as it was going to get, Bruce took all his supplies and plopped down next to Tony. And after cranking his chair as high as it could go he was ready.

“Ok Tony, just talk me through this. I got you.”

“Ok… Be careful of all the sparks as you unseal the top bit. The one that concave now? Yeah, that’s it.”

~~~

Tony tried his best to keep his head on straight and walk Bruce through his mechanical heart. But the longer it went on the more it felt like he was giving the instructions wasted. The world around him blurred to mush, his words felt slow and slurred, he could feel his body slowing down. And it’d keep slowing down until it came to a full stop unless Bruce got the arc stabilized first.

God he hated this. Feeling so helpless. Honestly, he was flying around in top-tier armor and yet on a team where an ordinary man was running around shooting arrows with a sleeveless leather vest as armor somehow he was the vulnerable one today.

They had been battling it out with a bunch of Nazi creeps. It had been going fine too until one of those idiots managed to land a hit directly at Tony’s chest piece. He’d been hit so hard Jarvis got knocked out. And when the suit went down Hulk had gone ballistic. He caught Tony and immediately carried him away from the battle when he couldn’t hear Tony. The suits mics had been down along with the rest of his suits abilities, and he was getting to week to yell.

After a hulk-sized leap that left Tony’s stomach somewhere back in the Hydra base, Hulk had set him down and began ripping apart his suit. Starting with his mask.

“Big guy? Ok buddy can you listen to me? Buddy?”

But the Hulk didn’t seem to focus on him. Instead he was forcing the quinjet hatch open and tried to pull out its emergency stretcher. It was like seeing a kid play with a dollhouse. Hulk didn’t seem to realize his strength and nearly wrecked the stretcher when he squeezed it in one hand. And Tony had half the mind to be afraid as Hulk reached back to pick him up. Luckily though he set him down much more gently. And when he looked down at him, he had the most terrified look on his face it broke his heart. Or technically maybe it broke his heart more.

At least he had Hulk’s full attention now. He tried to raise his voice as much as he could still managed while his whole chest felt like it was stuttering. “Hulk? Buddy? I know you’re scared right now. But we could really use Banner’s help right now, don’t you think?”

“Banner fix Tinman?” Hulk asked, hopeful.

“For sure. He’s a doctor… he’ll know what to do.”

Hulk nodded and took a few steps from Tony. And he saw him begin to transform. Tony closed his eyes and waited for Bruce. Bruce would know what to do. Bruce would make this alright.

~~~

Hours later they were back home in the tower. Bruce helped Tony down to his workshop and with Jarvis there to give him directions and backup he got Tony’s “spare tire” of a heart out of his chest cavity and put one of his newest models in its place.

“You know I think you like making these arcs for the heck of it. You keep making new designs on each one. It must be like pottery to you.” Bruce replied as he cleaned that gross plasmic discharge that built up under the reactor off his hands.

 “Oh it is. Definitely. It’s my underwater basket weaving. Having a few spares comes in handy though…” Tony said, looking Bruce’s handiwork over in a mirror before shrugging on a comfy shirt. Once he was all set, he paced back towards Bruce, hugging him from behind and kissing his neck. “Thanks for saving my ass out there.”

“Just looking out for my favorite hero… So what do you want to do now?”

“One thing really.”

And they spent the rest of the day passed out in Bruce’s room. Recuperating from hydra-fighting, hulking out, living on a wrecked arc and nearly dying.


	9. Request 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this is my last request for now! From justtopostmyfic “My favorite scenes are like this, where Bruce and Tony are alone, together, and happy. Would you consider taking a request of hungover!Tony/comforting Bruce?”.
> 
> Absolutely! This one was a lot of fun because it gave me a good excuse to go rewatch the first two iron man films for all the wasted Tony scenes, which was a lot of fun to do directly after seeing the new spider-man movie. Tony sure has come a long way lol. Thank you again for your request!
> 
> And I think that’s it for this Science bros fan-week! Thank you everyone so much for reading and supporting my stuff. And hope you guys keep an eye out for some of the stuff I’ll be writing in the near-future!

Bruce went back to Tony’s room to check on him again around 11 am. The room was nearly pitch black, except for the faintest sliver of sunlight that Friday let leak into the room. As he stepped into the room his eyes quickly adjusted. Last night Bruce had carefully put Tony to bed, making sure his head was tilted to the side and neatly tucking him in. Now the sheets were pulled out, pillows and blankets were scattered all over the place. And somehow during the night he managed to wrap himself up into a giant cocoon.

Setting down the water he brought with him, Bruce got closer to the cocoon. He reached for Tony’s shoulder. Or at least the part of the mound of blankets that looked the most shoulder-like.

“Heyyyy champ, how are you holding up?” Bruce said, shaking him a little.

He didn’t get any real answer. Just a muffled groan and the cocoon squirmed around.

“Come on Tony.” Bruce sighed as he pealed back some of the layers blankets. “Where’s your face?”

He heard Tony groan again before finally uncovering his head. His hair was ruffled up in every direction. When he looked up at Bruce he barely even opened his eyes.

“Hmmmm?”

Bruce fiddled around with the sheet still in his hands. “How are you feeling Tones?”

“Alive? I think.” Tony replied before burrowing back into his covers. “God it’s been a while since I drank that much.”

“Can you even remember last night?” Bruce asked, nudging at Tony’s cocoon to get him to come back up.

He begrudgingly popped back up and Bruce gestured to the water on the night stand. As Tony spoke he grabbed the glass and took tiny sips of water. “Bits and pieces. Mostly the beginning. I paced myself in the beginning… It gets spotty after I joined you, and Thor, and his little warrior squad.”

“Yeah… Things got a little out of hand after that.”

That immediately made Tony nervous and he sat a little straighter. “Hey I didn’t do anything stupid last night, right? Cause Peter and his Aunt were there.”

“No, you were alright. After you switched to Asgardian mead you stayed on that side of the party.” Bruce explained gently. The two had stuck together pretty much the entire night and the worst thing Tony did was let his personal censor slip. And that had never been that strong to begin with. “And if it makes you feel any better. Peter left the party early on so he never saw anything. And when you did get shit-faced, you were around Thor’s team and they couldn’t have cared less.”

Their whole side of the party had been pretty inebriated towards then end of the party, but at least they had all kept to themselves for the most part. That and only one table had been broken so Bruce considered that some sort of success. There was only so much he could do being one human-sized person watching out for a whole group of drunk Norse warrior gods and one drunk billionaire.

“Good.” Tony said, relieved and relaxing back into his cocoon again.

“It was kind of funny actually. Someone brought up the Bifrost and you started ranting about teleportation and the laws of physics. They all looked at you like you had a third eye, you were completely wasted but everything you were saying was correct. And they all just sat there listening to you. It was probably the quietest our end of the party got all night.” That was still one of Bruce’s favorite moments at their party.

“Huh, that sounds cute. You take a picture or anything? I’m sure Thor would love that.” Tony asked.

“I should have.” Bruce said sighing. While it had happened he got so caught up in Tony’s argument, but by the time he thought of collecting some blackmail they had already moved on.

Tony seemed a little disappointed but quickly brushed it off. “That’s too bad. Couldn’t you just see it? We get together all the worst photos of everyone we can find. Put’em in a scrap book... Not right now though.”

Bruce hummed in response and for a little while the conversation died off. Tony kept drinking his water in the tiniest sips possible, Bruce wondered if he was even drinking any water at this point. But Tony seemed alright, so Bruce let him be. He didn’t even realize he’d zoned out until Tony nudged at his arm from under his blanket.

“Hey Bruce? I gotta ask, you ever miss drinking?”

Bruce shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t drink much, even before the accident.”

Tony gave him a look. “Really?”

“Yeah, I never liked losing my inhibitions. Plus it always tasted awful.” Bruce said. He never had been the biggest on parties either.

“I could see that. Still, don’t you get sick of always being designated driver? For like, everything?” Tony said as he finished off his water.

“Hey, I get to remember all the dumb shit you do.” Bruce replied back.

That made Tony laugh. But it quickly ended with him wincing and rubbing at his head. “At least someone does…”

“You want me to get you anything?” Bruce asked carefully. He’d heard his fair share of half-assed hangover cures, and from everything he saw in college and beyond none of them truly worked. “Painkillers?”

“Could you? Cause I think I’m gonna die.” Tony said, falling back onto the bed.

Bruce brought a hand up to Tony’s forehead and brushing through his hair. “Can do. Anything else?”

Tony closed his eyes and struggled to think of anything else he might want. “Uhh, I don’t remember eating anything last night so I should probably have something.”

“Probably.” Bruce agreed. As he pulled his hand away he saw how Tony grumbled and sank back into his blankets. “I’ll be right back.”

Bruce padded out of the room to go find everything Tony wanted, along with another glass of water. Most hangover-cures Bruce had heard of were bullshit but staring hydrated was important. And when he got to the kitchen he tried to find something plain Tony’s stomach could manage. When he came back to the room with water, painkillers, some toast and a banana Tony had fully reverted to his cocoon state. And after a little bit of pressing from Bruce, he managed to get Tony to crawl back out take the pills and eat a little bit of the banana.

“Feeling any better now?”

“A little bit. My head finally stopped hurting.” Tony said. “You wanna go out?”

“Seriously? You said you were going to die five minutes ago.” Bruce gave him an incredulous look.

“Hey I’m a dramatic guy! I like my extremes.” Tony said raising his hands in defense. “Besides, this is nothing compared to when I was younger. When I first took over Stark Industries I’d be at parties in Milan, hop on a plane and make it to San Francisco for nine ‘o’clock board meetings. All I had to do was slap myself a few times and I was good to go.”

“Nice. I hate to break it to you but you aren’t in your twenties anymore.” Bruce said dryly though he was smiling.

“Oh god don’t I know it...” Tony grumbled.

Bruce tried to get him to eat the toast but Tony refused. Instead he broke free from his cocoon and kicked his legs off the edge of the bed. “Come on, let’s go do something! You wanna get brunch? I have no idea what time it is but we can go find a place still serving breakfast.”

“You’re eyes are going to be so sensitive.”

“Then I’ll wear sunglasses. Come on, Bruce!”

Bruce thought it over before sighing. “Fine. But don’t start whining when you step outside and everything’s too bright.”

Tony dragged himself out of bed, still in his button-up shirt and dress pants from last night, and pulled Bruce into a hug.

“Don’t worry, I think I’ll survive.”


End file.
